Blade of the Faltering Heart
by Miyakage Kouki
Summary: Well... this is the first story I've published here. It's a Samurai 7 fic about Kirara and Katsushiro. It takes both perspectives and meshes them. I've had the idea for a while so now it's time to put it into words-enjoy. Rating for later violence :


Author's Note: Nee-chan is a fond way of saying sister. The suffix "-san" is the equivalent to adding Mr, Ms, or Mrs. to a name. It shows a degree of respect or formality. Characters that speak and are not the main character are marked with a dash (-) before they speak. Secondary speakers have two Dashes (-) etc. some words I wanted emphasized I put in bold to show that it was spoken in a different tone of voice then the surrounding dialogue. All voiced speech is italicized... or should be :)

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><p>A strong breeze blew throughout the towering fields of rice soon to bow their heads. A lone woman lay in a field of flowers, watching the sunrise. Though peace and beauty surround her, her thoughts rave in turmoil. Where a strong will and a sense of strength were, pain and longing are now. Her mind is ravaged day by day by thoughts of regret and want of the love that had escaped her due to her own foolishness. Not a single minute goes by that she does not remind herself that she was indeed a fool for what she had done… Is there no hope that she may redeem herself?<p>

Dawn was breaking and it would soon be time to go to the fields and work for the day. With a sigh she sat up, stretched, and made her way towards the village. As she walked down the path out of the forest she saw a familiar figure running at full speed in her direction.

_-"Nee-chan! Nee-chan! They're here! They're here!"_

"_Komachi! What are you doing, and who is here?" _

_-"Momotaro and Yukino-san!"_

"_Shichiroji-san and Yukino-san are here? When did they arrive?"_

_-"Just now, come on nee-chan hurry, hurry!"_

"_Okay, okay I'm coming! Geez, Komachi…"_

The sisters continued on the path until they reached the village. When they entered the village a still exited Komachi led them to their home, where their guests awaited them.

_-"It's been a while, Kirara-chan."_

"_Ah! Yukino-san! Welcome, I'm sorry I wasn't here to greet you on your way in."_

_-"Oh my, don't mind that. It was our fault for not sending prior notice that we would be arriving."_

"_Ah… oh, Yukino-san where is Shichiroji-san?"_

_-"Hm, I think that idiot went to talk to Rikichi-san."_

"_Ha-ha, Yukino-san …."_

_-"There see, you finally smiled."_

As a slight blush reached Kirara's ears, Shichiroji was brought into the house lead by Komachi.

_-"Hello, Kirara-chan."_

"_Shichiroji-san!"_

_-"Yo! what, you guys having a secret meeting or something without me?"_

_-"You took an awful long time didn't you? How was Rikichi-san doing?"_

_-"What? Did you miss me Yukino? He's doing fine. Sanae said to give you her regards and congratulations."_

_-"Oh course I missed you idiot, wipe that grin plastered across your face off we're guests."_

"…_Congratulations?"_

_-"Ah I haven't told you yet. I'm pregnant."_

"_Eh! Really? Yukino-san, congratulations! But is it really ok for you to have come all the way here while you're pregnant just to tell us? Shichiroji-san you have to be more cautious! "_

_-"Ha ha, well I suppose so, but that's not the only reason we came here. Kirara-chan I have to talk to you… preferably alone."_

"_Eh? Ah… We can go to the garden."_

Kirara and Shichiroji stood and exited the house. They soon reached the garden where a small stone monument stood. Kirara watched as Shichiroji placed a small mat down for the two of them to sit on in the shade of a tree. The two sat. Shichiroji was silent for awhile steadily observing Kirara, and then he spoke.

_-"Kirara-chan, I want you to listen very carefully without interrupting. ok?"_

_"ok..." _

_-"Good, Then I'll start from the beginning. It's been roughly four years since the battle with the capitol. Afterwards when we all separated, I managed to keep tabs on Kanbei, and I would periodically check up on the village as well. However no matter where I checked information on Katsushiro was almost nonexistent."_

After hearing Katsushiro's name Kirara let out a gasp and her whole mind nearly shut down. Noticing this, Shichiroji paused and let the girl reclaim herself. After a few agonizing moments Kirara looked up and was ready for Shichiroji to continue.

_"Sorry, Shichiroji-san. Please continue..."_

_-"Ha ha, don't worry. That was the slightly bad news however I am the chosen bearer of good news!" _Shichirogi's mouth moved to form a large grin then he proceeded to put his fist against his chest in obvious fake pride causing Kirara to slightly smile and force back a laugh. Laughter... It has been a long time since she has been able to laugh with all her might.

_-"Hm yep you defiantly look better with a smile, Kirara-chan. Anyways continuing, like I said, information on Katsushiro was almost nonexistent however I heard rumors of a samurai that would take the requests of anyone for almost nothing, no matter what the job was. This of course is strange. Even if more villages are hiring samurai for their problems, it still costs a lot to hire one." _

_-"After I heard the rumors it got my interest and I followed up on it. It turns out that it was more then just a rumor. Far to the north of here a lot of the villages and towns are still plagued by rouge samurai and human bandits. At one point it almost got as bad as the Nobuseri terrorizing the villages here." _

_-"Shortly after the battle here it got worse. To the point that news of it even reached us here. After a month of hearing about nothing but carnage from that area is when the rumors of that samurai started to spread, and not even a month after they started to spread to Kogakyo I heard a strange rumor one that almost everyone but I would ignore as an exaggeration. Supposedly this samurai that was being herald as a hero easily slew a small army of bandits and mercenaries singlehandedly. Defeating over 300 men is insane, but after I thought about it. If some of them were using cannons it might be possible to do it by using their own fire against them...however it would take considerable skill to this. That is when I remembered that Katsushiro was the one who reflected the first shot of the capitals main canon."_

-"I then had a friend of mine go ask locals of that area about the samurai. The only thing he really got from them was that the samurai was younger then he seemed had deep emerald eyes and long emerald colored hair." Kirara let out a gasp that she could not control at the description.

"_Katsushiro-sama…"_

_-"Yes well the description fits… that and there was another thing that kinda clued us in that it was him."_

"_Eh, what did?"_

_-"well let's just say that he had a lot of female __**fans **__that were pretty cooperative when describing him. Though most of it was obvious nonsense from deluded girls. Ha ha."_

"… _I see." _

_-"Hm, well ignoring that I recently received word that the samurai from the rumors would be heading through Kogakyo soon escorting a group of villagers from somewhere up north, and I thought that I would come and snitch… I mean tell you that I probably found him." _

"_Katsushiro… is coming to Kogakyo…"_

_-"Well I can see you've got a lot on your mind so I'll go on inside before Yukino has my head."_

"_Ok…."_

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><p>Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai 7, any of the characters used in this chapter, or the amazing music I'm listening to right now. (Time of Dying- Three Days Grace, Take my hand - Simple Plan)<p>

I have most of chapters 2, 3, and 4 thought up (which will probably be much longer then this one), but I have to decide how I want to order the events in my mind before I can type anymore. Otherwise I will just end up getting bored and drop this, for I am lazy. :( Please review, comment, or send a friendly hello via pm (hate mail welcome too!). I like to know if my writing is good or bad_._ I did not have a beta reader for this because I am picky and only wanted one person for this particular story... who never responded to my messages. I feel like I was rejected._ ps they wont let me put any less then signs? ... I wanted to express my broken heart but all i can type is half of it... lol /3  
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